One traditional, and now obsolete, demarcation between Northern and Southern India is the Vindhya mountain range, which has sometimes formed a border during periods of imperial expansion in India, such as the one ruled by the Gupta emperor Samudragupta.[8] The Vindhyas also find mention in the narrative of RishiAgastya as a dividing feature between North and South India.[9] The Manusmṛti also describes the southern limit of Aryavarta (a classical, and also now obsolete, term for parts of North India) as being defined by the Vindhya range.[10]

Several sources consider sizable Muslim populations and deep-seated Islamic, Central Asian and Afghan influences to be defining characteristics of North Indian culture, both linguistically and culturally.[11] Some of these influences are pre-Islamic, such as the Bactrian-originated Kushan Empire (modern day Afghanistan) that maintained twin capitals in Mathura (now in Uttar Pradesh) and Peshawar (in the present-day Pakistani Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province), as well as the Hun confederacies that periodically asserted their rule over large parts of North India.[12]

The term "North Indian" is sometimes used to describe people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, often using the term bhaiya (which literally means 'elder brother') in a derogatory sense, though some press reports have contradicted this.[14] In Punjab, people from the same region (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) are often referred to as Purabias, or Easterners.[15] Some publications of the Government of Bihar place that state in the eastern part of India as well.[16] Within Uttar Pradesh itself, "the cultural divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the purabiyas (easterners) often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners."[17][18]

North India lies mainly in the north temperate zone of the Earth.[21] Though cool or cold winters, hot summers and moderate monsoons are the general pattern. North India is one of the most climatically diverse regions on Earth. During summer, the temperature often rises above 35 °C across much of the Indo-Gangetic plain, reaching as high as 60 °C in the Thar desert, Rajasthan and up to 49 in Delhi. During winter, the lowest temperature on the plains dips to below 5 °C, and below freezing point in some states. Heavy to moderate snowfall occurs in Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttarakhand. Much of north India is notoriously infamous for heavy fog during winters.

Extreme temperatures among inhabited regions have ranged from −45 °C (−49 °F) in Dras, Jammu and Kashmir[22] to 50.6 °C (123 °F) in Alwar, Rajasthan. Dras is claimed to be the second-coldest inhabited place on the planet (after Siberia), with a recorded low of -60 °C.[23][24][25]

Northern Indian tradition recognises six distinct seasons in the region: summer (grishma or garmi, May–June), rainy (varsha, July–August), cool (sharad, September–October, sometimes thought of as 'early autumn'), autumn (hemant, November–December, also called patjhar, lit. leaf-fall), winter (shishir or sardi, January–February) and spring (vasant, March–April). The literature, poetry and folklore of the region uses references to these six seasons quite extensively and has done so since ancient times when Sanskrit was prevalent.[32][33][34] In the mountainous areas, sometimes the winter is further divided into "big winter" (e.g. Kashmirichillai kalaan) and "little winter" (chillai khurd).[35]

North Indian vegetation is predominantly deciduous and coniferous. Of the deciduous trees, sal, teak, walnut, sheesham (Indian rosewood) and poplar are some which are important commercially.[46] The Western Himalayan region abounds in chir, pine, deodar (Himalayan cedar), blue pine, spruce, various firs, birch and junipers.[47][48][49][50] The birch, especially, has historical significance in Indian culture due to the extensive use of birch paper (Sanskrit: bhurja patra) as parchment for many ancient Indian texts.[51][52] The Eastern Himalayan region consists of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder, birch and dwarf willows. Reflecting the diverse climatic zones and terrain contained in the region, the floral variety is extensive and ranges from Alpine to temperate thorn, coniferous to evergreen, and thick tropical jungles to cool temperate woods.[47][53]

Corbett National Park: It was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park[58] along the banks of the Ramganga River. It is India's first National Park, and was designated a Project Tiger Reserve in 1973. Situated in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, the park acts as a protected area for the critically endangered Bengal tiger of India. Cradled in the foothills of the Himalayas, it comprises a total area of 500 km2 out of which 350 km2 is core reserve. This park is known not only for its rich and varied wildlife but also for its scenic beauty.

Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park: Located in West Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand, these two national parks constitute a biosphere reserve that is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2004. The Valley of Flowers is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora, this richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals.

Dachigam National Park: Dachigam is a higher altitude national reserve in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that ranges from 5,500 to 14,000 feet above sea level. It is home to the hangul (a red deer species, also called the Kashmir stag).

Kanha National Park: The sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha were the setting for Rudyard Kipling's collection of stories, "The Jungle Book". The Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh came into being in 1955 and forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under Project Tiger.

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: It is one of the finest bird parks in the world, it is a reserve that offers protection to faunal species as well. Nesting indigenous water birds as well as migratory water birds and waterside birds, this sanctuary is also inhabited by sambar, chital, nilgai and boar.

Dudhwa National Park: It covers an area of 500 km2 along the Indo-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, is best known for the barasingha or swamp deer. The grasslands and woodlands of this park, consist mainly of sal forests. The barasingha is found in the southwest and southeast regions of the park. Among the big cats, tigers abound at Dudhwa. There are also a few leopards. The other animals found in large numbers, are the Indian rhinoceros, elephant, jungle cats, leopard cats, fishing cats, jackals, civets, sloth bears, sambar, otters, crocodiles and chital.

Ranthambhore National Park: It spans an area of 400 km2 with an estimated head count of thirty two tigers is perhaps India’s finest example of Project Tiger, a conservation effort started by the government in an attempt to save the dwindling number of tigers in India. Situated near the small town of Sawai Madhopur it boasts of variety of plant and animal species of North India.

North India includes some highly regarded historical, architectural and archaeological treasures of India. The Taj Mahal, an immense mausoleum of white marble in Agra, is one of the universally admired buildings of world heritage.[61] Besides Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi also carry some great exhibits from the Mughal architecture. Gwalior has some rich cultural sites. Gwalior Fort, Sun Temple which was made by Birla group. Also Jai vilas palace shows maharaja culture. Lucknow has the greatest mix of Hindu and Muslim cultures in India. Kanpur reflects excellent British architecture with monuments like-Edward Hall, Police Quarters, Cutchery Cemetery etc. Khajuraho temples constitute another famous world heritage site. The state of Rajasthan is known for exquisite palaces and forts of the Rajput clans. Historical sites and architecture from the ancient and medieval Hindu and Buddhist periods of Indian history, such as Jageshwar, Deogarh and Sanchi, as well as sites from the bronze ageIndus Valley Civilization, such as Manda and Alamgirpur, can be found scattered throughout northern India. Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganga, is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the oldest in India. Bhimbetka is an archaeological site of the Paleolithic era, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent.

The economy of North India is predominantly agrarian, but is changing fast with rapid economic growth that has ranged above 8% annually. Several parts of North India have prospered as a consequence of the Green Revolution, including Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, and have experienced both economic and social development.[63][64][65] The eastern areas of East Uttar Pradesh, however, have lagged[66][67] and the resulting disparity has contributed to a demand for separate statehood in West Uttar Pradesh (the Harit Pradesh movement).[68][69] Bihar's economy has been the fastest growing state economy in India, higher than all the Indian states including Gujarat.

However the birth rate in North India is much higher than in other parts of the country and this can lead to poverty and related problems.[70] Joblessness is a critical problem in North India and cannot be tackled easily because of the lack of hi-tech industries in the region. A large number of unskilled and skilled workers have moved to Southern India and other nations because of the unavailability of jobs locally.[71] The technology boom that occurred in the past three decades in Southern India has helped many Indians from the north to find jobs and live prosperous lives in Southern cities.

The states with the highest GDP per capita in North India are Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The National Capital Region of Delhi has emerged as an economic power house with rapid industrial growth along with adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.[72] Chandigarh has the highest per-capita State Domestic Product (SDP) of any Indian union territory.[73]

^John Stewart Bowman, "Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture", Columbia University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-231-11004-9, Snippet:... Samudragupta is notable for the king's tireless military campaigning and expansion of empire. He conquers the entire Aryavarta ... His expeditions into south India are unsuccessful; the Vindhya hills form the southern boundary of empire ....

^Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (1976), A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar, Oxford University Press, ... The Vindhya range was the recognised southern limit of the Aryan land. Manu states distinctly that the country between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas and between the eastern and western oceans comprised Aryavarta, the abode of the Aryas ...

^A clash of cultures, NDTV, 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-10-22. "... no one in North India, and here I am talking of the states of Punjab, Himachal, Uttrakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan, considers people from eastern UP and Bihar as North Indians ..."

^H. N. Kaul (1998-01-01), Rediscovery of Ladakh, Indus Publishing, 1998, ISBN9788173870866, ... With its altitude of 10000 ft. above the sea, Dras is considered to be the second coldest inhabited place in the world after Siberia where mercury sinks as low as -40 °C during winter, though it has also recorded a low of -60 °C ...

^Essays on North Indian Folk Traditions, Susan Snow Wadley, pp. 226, Orient Blackswan, 2005, ISBN 9788180280160, ... Yet another cultural division of the year views it as six seasons ... This cycle of six seasons, while known and referred to today, is more widely recognised in Sanskrit literature ...

^Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; S. N. Sridhar (2008), Language in South Asia, Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-78141-8, ... Nihali, which has some 2000 speakers in the Indian state of Maharashtra is generally also regarded as an isolate ...

^Sanjukta Gupta, "Lakṣmī Tantra: A Pāñcarātra Text", Brill Archive, 1972, ISBN 90-04-03419-6. Snippet:... the text recommends that the bark of the Himalayan birch tree (bhurja-patra) should be used for scribbling mantras ...

^Amalananda Ghosh, "An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology", BRILL, 1990, ISBN 90-04-09264-1. Snippet:... Bhurja-patra, the inner bark on the birch tree grown in the Himalayan region, was a very common writing material ...

^John Shakespear (1817), Dictionary: Hindustani and English, Taylor & Francis, ... bir bahuti: a small insect with a back of a bright red colour; the scarlet or lady fly, commonly called the "Rain insect" as it makes its appearance when the first rains have fallen ...

^Mohamad Riad El Ghonemy, "The Dynamics of Rural Poverty", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1986. ... Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh recorded spectacular production increases ...